Fracture

Like Primal Fear (also directed by Gregory Hoblit), Fracture proves that the courtroom drama is alive and well. Although, Fracture is a little less courtroom and a little more character study, but that's another topic for another time. Fracture succeeds because it pairs a living legend with one of the best young actors around: Anthony Hopkins channels Hannibal Lecter (and I'm not saying that's necessarily a bad thing) while Ryan Gosling holds his own as a cocky young hot shot in the district attorney's office.

Hopkins plays Ted Crawford, a brilliant aerodynamic engineer who very cooly and calmly shoots his wife after finding out that she was having an affair. Then he washes himself off and wipes off fingerprints from the gun and the bullet shells and just hangs out in his house until the cops arrive. One of the cops just so happens to be the very man his wife was having an affair with and Ted tells him point blank: I shot my wife. This seems like an open and shut case to young rising star lawyer Willy Beachum (Gosling) who has one foot out the door as he prepares to leave his job at the D.A's office to take a cushy corporate law gig. This case against Ted will be his last and he thinks he can't lose (and he doesn't want to since he has a 97% conviction rate) since he has the murder weapon and a signed confession. But, soon, all of his evidence is deemed inadmissiable as Ted pleads Not Guilty and is set to defend himself in court.

Hopkins and Gosling have very few scenes where they are actually together on screen but they have great chemsitry none the less. Hopkins is deliciously evil even though he's doing his best Hannibal Lecter. But it's not a problem since he does it so well. Gosling has charm to spare and certainly holds his own against Hopkins. Fracture isn't so much a court drama... it certainly works better as a character study. Both leads are overflowing with pride and ego. they both believe themselves to be flawless and both try to find the 'fracture' in the other. This movie is about their arrogance and ultimately about how they deal with the discovery that perfection is a little more elusive than they thought.

There are a few problems I had. Mainly with the absurd romance subplot involving Willy and his new corporate boss (Rosamund Pike). Not only did it seem absolutely absurd, but also it ended as soon as it started and seemed to only be thrown in there to give the audience some sex. Another problem I had was the ending. It was clever, sure, but not realistic at all. I don't want to give it away but I had some problems believing a certain aspect of it (and it doesn't involve the murder weapon as I found that very clever).

Still, this film is packed with drama, excitement, suspense and intelligence, but the best thing about it is that it's actually surprisingly really, really funny. The great writing, directing and acting easily makes this one of the most entertaining films of the year so far. Fracture is a superior psychological thriller that keeps you interested from beginning to end.
Grade: B+